Typical industrial conveying systems are used to move items from one location inside a structure to another. Often these systems move items along a path having vertical ascending and descending contours while traveling horizontally along the structure. These conveyor systems typically utilize heavy-duty rollers which roll along a trolley track by a conveying means, usually an endless chain. In industrial systems, these chain trolleys and associated chains, can have a significant mass, be difficult to handle and hard to reach. Over time, problems may arise in industrial conveyor systems, for example, when a conveyor chain is damaged or broken or when a conveyor line becomes obsolete or must be removed or modified during change-out of the equipment. Removing the chain, or a portion thereof, from an industrial conveyor system can be problematic.
By way of example, and not as a limitation, in some industrial processes the chain can extend substantial lengths and the weight can be significant. In addition, access to the chain can be problematic because the travel path may have multiple turns, inclines and declines or the path may be obstructed by nearby objects. Generally, to remove a chain or portion thereof, a break in the track must provide access to the chain and a portion of the chain must be decoupled or removed. Once the chain has been decoupled, it may travel out of the break and be removed from the conveying system. In some cases, when inserting a new chain, the new chain may be attached to an existing chain and threaded through the system by the existing chain. In this way, the new chain may act as a counter balance to help maintain the elongated nature of the chain. However, when removing a portion of the existing chain without adding a new chain, the decoupled chain may runaway and become entangled within the conveying system. While ropes may be tied around the chain trolley to assist in preventing runaway chains, portions of the chain may not be accessible throughout the facility or the ropes may become entangled by nearby objects and may require excessive effort to prevent movement of the conveying system chain.
Therefore it would be beneficial to provide a system and method for retarding movement of the conveying system during removal of a chain or a portion thereof, preventing the chain from running away during the chain removal process.